Nato believes French pilots killed by Serbs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.EMMA DALY
Sarajevo
The bizarre "kidnapping" story told by Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader, to explain the disappearance of two French pilots shot down over Bosnia at the end of August and captured by rebel Serbs, is almost certainly a sign that the two men are dead, according to Nato sources.
Captain Frederic Chiffot and Lieutenant Jose Souvignet were last seen ejecting from their Mirage 2000 on 30 August as it plunged flaming to the ground close to Mr Karadzic's headquarters at Pale, during Nato air strikes against the Serbs.
Photographs of the two, apparently with leg wounds but alive and in captivity, appeared recently in the magazine Paris Match; but President Slobodan Milosevic, the ultimate Serb leader, told the French Foreign Minister, Herve de Charette, this week that he had no news of the pilots.
As the two met in Belgrade, Mr Karadzic said in Banja Luka that the pilots had been seized from hospital by an unknown group. "What we know so far is that they have been kidnapped by somebody, and I have given the strongest order for an investigation into what happened," Mr Karadzic said.
The prime suspect for the kind of blackmail opportunity offered by the capture of two Nato airmen - ''help us politically or we will kill your pilots'' - is Mr Karadzic. French officials have remained extremely tight- lipped about the affair.
"Most people I think, including a lot of the senior French people, actually believe they are dead," one Nato source said. "They believe they were killed by the Serbs, whether deliberately or in an unplanned way. The belief is that they died fairly early on."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments